History of Faeland
The History of Faeland spans several centuries, from the Late Iron Age until modern times. =The Antique Period: Prehistory to ca. 700 C.E.= Prehistory Faeland has been inhabited since Neolithic times. In the 5th century B.C.E., the inhabitants began to display traits associated with the La Tène culture from mainland Europe. Coastal trade flourished between Faeland and its neighbors in what would become France and Spain, and some coin hoardes suggest that trade with the Britons may have occurred as well. Roman Era Before the Roman “conquest,” urbanization on the island was almost non-existent. Rather, large ‘’oppida’’ type trading posts existed along the continental facing coast, and a handful of hinterland trading centers/tribal strongholds followed migratory paths to the interior. Legend reports that when the Roman emperor Claudius completed his conquest of Britain, it was Caractacus who suggested that the emperor settle his troops on the fertile northern coastal plains of Faeland. Thus followed the brief visit of Claudius to the island (the only emperor to do so besides Hadrian) and the creation of the new Senatorial Gallia Maritima province. While a formal territory of the empire, affective Roman control rarely extended past the principal five military colonies of the northeast. Military operations into the interior were mostly of a preemptive nature, and never secured further bases inland. Despite its Senatorial status, the province was often under the command of a Prefect, as the only military units were auxiliaries drawn from the colonists and assimilated natives. The need for more men under arms was lessened further when Hadrian visited the island and ordered a second wall (the first being in Britain) constructed, which the relatively primitive tribal warriors found to be an affective deterrent. Christianity Arrives As a backwater territory, the tide of Christianity rose slowly in Faeland, to such a degree that it was largely considered a haven for pagans and heretics alike. The Aroës islands in particular were prized by monks for their remoteness. A bishopric was only created in Falx in 698 C.E., the island previously having been under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Nantes (in France). Late Antiquity With the collapse of the Western Empire and the relentless Barbarian Invasions, Faeland became a last redoubt for many Gallo-Roman families. The attraction of greater wealth around the Mediterranean led to many a tribe passing over the island in their marches into the empire. While the numbers are difficult to determine, it is known that the population of the walled province increased considerably (estimates range from 30%-50% increase) during the 5th and 6th centuries. =The Medieval Period: ca. 700 - 1512= At the dawning of the Viking Age, Faeland remained largely untouched by the invasions, and its political and cultural landscape were still largely unchanged since Hadrianic times. In fact, it had become such a bastion of Western learning that it had drawn the eye of the Roman Catholic Church, who saw the island as seething with paganism. But before the new Bishop of Falx could begin to consolidate control over the island, the first recorded raids of the Norsemen began, which, like the rest of Europe, sent shockwaves through Faeland. The Pentapolis was assaulted on numerous occasions, but in large part managed to hold off its assailants. Rebuffed, the Viking marauders often turned to the easy pickings of the Aroës Isles, densely packed with relatively defenseless monasteries. The attacks forced many of the monks to immigrate to the mainland (primarily in what would become Dhíall). More Viking bases were established along the coasts adjacent to France and Spain. The history of the island until the middle of the Renaissance is largely a story of the strife between the Faelo-Roman settlements of the northeast, the native Fáels of the interior, and the recently settled Vikings. This coupled with religious strife (Faeland was largely non-Christian well into the 17th century, despite a crusade) left the island relatively unfettered by Continental affairs. =The Colonial Period: 1512 - 1925= As the Age of Exploration began, interest in Faeland was renewed on the Continent. First Spain, via the Basque fishermen who set up small villages, and then England both vied for control of the island, only escalating as the two powers built up fleets that would eventually clash with each other. For Spain, Faeland was a stepping stone to control of the British Isles; and for England, Faeland represented a port through which they might equalize their colonial prowess to that of Spain, already established in the Americas. France only came in later, as an attempt to make a place for her shipping, and managed very modest success until the War of the Spanish Succession, when the Spanish surrender of the island to the British left France on Faeland with no allies. Though fighting was fierce and the French did hold out, the Seven Years War ended with the final ceding of all French territory on the island. Although Great Britain possessed only a few other colonies on the island, the 1763 Treaty of Paris saw Great Britain recognized as the sole authority in Faeland. (See History of the British in Faeland) Relatively peaceful seas and problems with her American colonies meant that Faeland saw little further development from the British until the end of the 18th century. Following the 1783 Treaty of Paris that evicted the British from the 13 colonies, Loyalist expatriates arrived in droves and helped expedite the colonial aspirations of King George III in Faeland. A capital, Georgetown, was founded, and a governor appointed to the Crown Colony of Faeland. The citizens of the colony had only been made more so by the American Revolution, and incessantly petitioned the throne to be made a proper part of the kingdom. To attract more nobles to the island, a Faelandic Parliament was established at Georgetown in 1791, along with a land-rich Duchy extending far into the under-developed highlands of Faeland. As France appeared more and more on the verge of collapse, massive supplies were cached on the island, and it became increasingly important as a base of operations for the Royal Navy. Immediately following the English-Irish Acts of Union, in 1802 the Faelandic Parliament followed suit, passing a measure that recognized the King of Great Britain as the King of Faeland. In the meantime, the Duke of Faeland was an absentee landlord, and had established many lesser nobles in Georgetown, granting them large estates in the highlands. In 1804 the English Parliament in turn passed an Act of Union, creating a Kingdom of Faeland along the southeast coast, and at once joining it to the crown of the new United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Duchy of Faeland continued to exist as an extraterritorial fief of the U.K., but as time went on, it was treated more and more as colonial territory. Large tracts would be stripped from the Duchy to form Crown possessions for one purpose or another. After the Napoleonic Wars, immigration to Faeland from England slowed to a trickle. But, as the Great Famine swept Ireland, the Irish began to flood the northern shores of Faeland. It was this large Irish population that would help fuel independence from the U.K. in the immediate wake of the Irish War of Independence. =The Modern Period: 1925 to the Present= When tensions in Ireland flared into war in 1919, Faelish independence had hitherto not been a foregone conclusion. In the Pentapolis, there had always been a smoldering resentment of British rule. The United Kingdom, however, had been prudent enough to make a protectorate of the cities and largely stayed out of their affairs. In the Spanish speaking Caudia region, the local people had largely been left with their traditional institutions intact. By this time, the local Fáels of the interior had largely mixed with all the other populations, and at any rate had never been overly abused by the British government to foment rebellion. The British hand had always been strongest in the Kingdom of Faeland, where it ruled a strongly English population. But, for the most part, despite having spread their language across the island, most of the inhabitants were not of English descent. So, when the Irish arrived en masse in the Dhíall, they took their sentiments with them all over the island. Particularly to the farms of the Duchy (highlands) and to the docks of Georgetown and other cities of the kingdom. The I.R.A. had firmly established munitions caches in Dhíall, and, to a limited extent, in the Kingdom. Starting in 1921, partly to assist their Irish brethren, the Dhíall rose in revolt and established a Faelish Republican Army, which made direct for the Kingdom of Faeland, the seat of British authority in Faeland. Ironically, most of the fighting in this war of independence was localized to this area, which was by and large loyal to the U.K. Further insurrections occurred in Caudia and the Pentapolis, but these were nowhere near as violent. The Dhíall was mostly untouched by the war, though reprisal Royal Navy bombardments did occur. Caudia experienced a mass exodus of British nationals, to the point that the Spanish population fortified its border and simply waited out the war in a more passive role. In 1921, with the Anglo-Irish Treaty in place, it was obvious that the British would soon have more forces to commit to battle. The decisive moment arrived in 1924, when the forces of the Pentapolis sallied from their lands and marched to relieve the siege of the F.R.A. forces in Georgetown. Seeing that the situation could only get bloodier, all sides agreed to negotiations. March 10, 1925 concluded discussions with the Treaty of London. In the confusion of rebellion, several entities had declared themselves independent from the U.K. independently. Rather than negotiate with all of them, the United Kingdom agreed to grant total independence to the polities in federation, with special dispensation that the former Kingdom of Faeland be admitted to the Commonwealth of Nations. Faeland rejected this measure in an island wide referendum, and it was decided to abolish the Kingdom (King George V officially abdicated the throne) and allow a Dominion of Litus to remain. It would be allowed to join the Commonwealth peacefully, but not recognize the English monarch as King of Faeland, but as Monarch in the Dominion of Litus. Following British evacuation, the pressing issue for Faeland concerned unification. Having just ousted a foreign ruler, no one state would submit to the other. Summit after summit was held in Madrid, Paris, Rome, Berlin, and Washington D.C., as the leaders sought aid in finding a workable compromise. In the meantime, the various provisional governments coagulated and solidified into proper nation-states. The major exception was Litus, whose Anglo-Saxon population was convulsing under harsh treatment from its Dhíalleen military junta. Georgetown was continually rocked by terrorist attacks from one side or the other. Having formed a Provisional Alliance for the duration of the unification talks, all of the states swore non-aggression and mutual defense pacts with one another. The Alliance threatened to breakdown in 1933 when, in an effort to curb attacks in its own cities, the Pentapolis occupied northern Litus, threatening to evict all Dhíalleen in the country. As the opposing sides in Litus battled each other, some had based themselves in the occupied cities of the northeast, eventually the attacks spread there. At another summit in New York, it was decided that the Dhíalleen Irish had a definite homeland in the Dhíall, and should return or peaceably take up residence in Litus. A coalition force entered the Dominion and held new elections. Knowing that the returns would be favorable to the Anglo-Saxons, a large proportion of the Dhíalleen migrated back to their pre-war homes. In 1935 a constitution was ratified by all the member countries creating the Federated Republics of Faeland. With the creation of the Ríocht Fíl (Kingdom of Faeland) in the highlands in former Duchy territory, the name was modified in 1955 to the Federated States of Faeland. This however is only a description, as the only name used in the constitution is “Fáel.” Faeland is a neutral country, and as such had no official involvement in World War II. Various free units, however, were independently raised, trained, and volunteered for service with the allies. And some minor naval engagements and shore skirmishes did take place as the Germans considered taking the island. (See Faeland in World War II) In modern times Faeland has been at the forefront of social development in Western Europe, as well as taking the lead in more ecological energy production and consumption. Category:History